What hurts is I had chances to "clean out" old stock at parts stores and dealerships,and garages that changed hands or went out of business,and I stupidly passed on many of the offers...was leery of collecting a ton of "orphan" parts that fit only a few odball vehicles that hardly exist any more..
When my friend's shop of 18 years was sold by the building owner,he offered me a whole "upstairs" of new parts like brake pads,shoes,oil filters,wheel seals,ignition parts (and the Filko cabinets !),and a bunch of air filters,but I didn't want my garage crammed full of things I may have had a hard time getting rid of.
There was a Chevy dealership in one town I worked in that had a "clearance sale" before they moved to a new location...there was a ton of new "trinkets" in GM boxes like the one pictured above in a "free" pile,but the catch was you had to take ALL of it..my garage wouldn't have held it all..bet lots of it got thrown in a dumpster,after all the more desireable parts were picked over or taken..
I bought an oem GM 454 "badge" for the fender of my '72 Chevelle wagon,and never did use it..found it in the box in my room in a desk drawer I rarely open..think I paid like $10 for it 20+ years ago,at a swap meet,thought that was "high",but I won't be surprised if they have tripled in value since..
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